Alone
by LOTSlover
Summary: Batman battles his thoughts and feelings for Wonder Woman. Which side of him will win out? Written from Bruce's POV.


**TITLE:** Alone  
><strong>AUTHOR:<strong> LOTSlover  
><strong>CHARACTERS:<strong> Batman / Wonder Woman  
><strong>RATING:<strong> T  
><strong>WARNINGS:<strong> Author Chooses Not to Use Warnings

**DISCLAIMER:** I love Justice League, but especially Batman and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, I do not own the characters and if I did things would be much different for them.

**SUMMARY:** Batman battles his thoughts and feelings for Wonder Woman. Which side of him will win out? Written from Bruce's POV.

Alone.

One single solitary word made up of only five little letters and yet it has the ultimate power to create so many conflicted emotions inside of me, most of which is…fear.

Fear of the lonely embittered existence that I had seen when I had been sent to the future. It is more than difficult to admit that there is actually something in this life that I truly fear, something that truly makes my heart race and my breath catch like a sharp knife in my chest.

I fear losing those I care about, that the darkness that has seeped into my soul, twisting and warping it into something nearly unrecognizable will soon swallow them whole as well, dragging them down into its thorny abyss.

I have tried so hard to keep the darkness at bay, to keep it from claiming those closest to me, tarnishing and tainting them as well. That is why I have pushed and shoved, angered and offended, carefully carving almost everyone of any possible importance from my life in order to keep them from being sucked into my dismal bleak existence.

It is the least I can do, a sacrifice I'm willing to make just to keep others from being hurt or even worse…becoming like me.

I alone have chosen this lonely path, a tearful promise made by an eight year old at his parents' grave and no one else should be forced to endure what I alone have begun...my mission.

There's that five letter word again…alone.

It is something that is destined for me because of the choices that I have made and I must abide by those decisions that have led me to this point in time, this secluded life of mine.

Regrets? I have many of them and yet I cannot dwell on them. I refuse to turn my back on my city because if I do, an eight year old is at risk of losing their parents too and I will not…cannot…allow that to happen. Not on my watch.

The wind suddenly whips causing my cape to snap. I close my eyes for only a brief moment, picturing her and secretly hoping that she is the reason for the sudden gust. I breathe deeply but her intoxicating scent is not there, filling the air or my senses with the ambrosia to my soul.

She doesn't come anymore, hasn't come in a few weeks now, showing up in my city just to talk. I know what she really wants when she comes because I want it too…more than she can possibly begin to imagine. But I have refused to give voice to it, instead ticking off all the reasons to her why it would never work between us.

She always listened to my reasons that were beginning to sound more than ludicrous even to me every time I presented them as if I was addressing the board of directors for Wayne Enterprises. The brilliant cobalt blue eyes always reflected such patience, a knowing little smirk playing on her lips that I was aching to erase as I rattled off the well rehearsed list again.

It was a battle of wills, the Amazon Princess of Themyscira versus the Dark Prince of Gotham, both with enough willful determination and stubbornness to drive even the sanest person absolutely crazy if exposed to us for too long.

She is the only person I have ever met that I could not intimidate; my fierce terror-inducing growl meant to maim receiving a calm beautifully arched eyebrow instead as if saying 'is that the best you're got, mortal?'

It is both incredibly infuriating and sexy as hell, making me want to chuck that ridiculous list of reasons out the nearest window just for the chance to push her up against the nearest wall, pinning her there with my body as I have my way with her.

I have never met someone who could stir so many powerful emotions within me, heating my blood and disarming my every defense. I throw up a wall and she crushes it with that brilliant smile that could chase away the dimmest shadows or those striking blue eyes that seemed to peel back every ugly perverted layer to find what was left of the pieces of my soul.

And then there are those sinfully long legs that seem to start at her neck and go on forever. That is the hardest to fight. Those legs. I can't help imagining her long limbs wrapped so firmly around my waist as I take her, the feel of her smooth thigh beneath my hand as I stroke and caress her.

I suddenly find that it's getting very warm here up on the roof with the sleeping city below me. My uniform pants are growing unbelievably tight, but I can't help myself with this one little indulgence. It's all I have now.

I would flip her over then, allowing her to straddle me, her luscious hair an ebony curtain of pure silk hanging around my face and shielding us from the outside world as we make love. How I have longed to run my fingers through that raven mane of hers, to feel her soft skin pressed against mine.

What's hardest is having to sit next to her during League meetings. That long crossed leg gently swinging back and forth like a shapely pendulum, accidently brushing against mine and completely mesmerizing me. How any red-blooded male can sit next to that week after week and not have lustful thoughts is impossible to comprehend.

Then she flips that raven hair over her shoulder, her heavenly scent suddenly permeating the air and my fingers grip the arm rests of my chair even tighter as if hanging on for dear life and I'm suddenly thankful I'm not a Meta or my chair would be in pieces by the time the meeting was over.

The lust inside of me grows to near unbearable levels, my every defense working overtime to keep my visage fierce and yet impassive. And as Kent finally ends the meeting, it is all I can do to escape quick enough before I do something irrational like yank her into the nearest room and do all the things to her that have been haunting my dreams for the last year and a half.

Without even a second thought, my hand goes to my commlink, my body taking over. "Batman to Watchtower."

"Yes, Batman," J'onn's stoic voice immediately responds. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you give me Wonder Woman's location?" I ask, my voice unemotional, businesslike despite the heated lust thrumming through my veins right now.

"I'm sorry, but she has already left," J'onn replies.

I feel sharp panic like a knife slice through me with his words. "Left? Left where?" I demand without thinking.

"I do not know," J'onn says. "She left a couple of hours ago saying that she was going out to meet someone."

I freeze, all the breath suddenly leaving my body as if I'd just been punched by Bane. My mind begins racing feverishly as jealousy rises up from deep within to seize control of me, causing my throat to constrict.

"Batman?" J'onn finally says, breaking through my tormented thoughts about Diana, what exactly she was doing at that moment or who she was doing it with. "Do you need me to locate her for you?"

The words 'yes dammit' stick to my tongue, but I reply with, "No, I'll see if I can track her down tomorrow."

"Good night, Batman," J'onn says.

"Night," is all I manage to mutter before my commlink goes silent. I caught something in J'onn's voice, something that piqued my curiosity, but I don't have time to analyze it right now. My brain is working overtime as I stare at the inky night sky, trying to force my heart to come to terms with this latest news.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised especially after the last time she had showed up to keep me company on patrol. The Princess couldn't have picked a worse time than that one fateful night three weeks ago.

My day job as Bruce Wayne had been an absolute nightmare. I had discovered a secret take over plot by someone I had trusted within my very own company. It had been more than difficult learning my faith and trust had been misplaced, that I had possibly missed the signs that something had been secretly brewing right under my nose in my own company.

To make matters worse, I'd had a very heated argument with Dick before heading out on patrol that had ended quite abruptly. I'd also had a run-in with Catwoman who had been in an extremely playful mood after being caught trying to help herself to some jewels at the Gotham Museum. I had hauled her feline ass to Arkam without so much as a smirk or a flirtatious comeback.

Besides, she wasn't my type…not anymore, not after meeting a certain Amazon.

To say that I was in a surly mood that night would have been a grand understatement of the greatest proportions. I had a raging headache and was practically begging for someone, anyone to show up so I could unleash my fury on someone.

Unfortunately, the naïve Princess had been the one who had so innocently showed up on my gargoyle with a cup of coffee and a sweet smile that could have melted the hardest heart…except for mine that night.

For me, it was open season on anyone fool enough to wear their heart on their proverbial sleeve and my shotgun was locked, loaded, and aimed on her. Bull's-eye, baby.

Before Diana could even open that beautiful mouth I was dying to plunder, I unleashed a heated tirade upon her unlike anything she'd ever seen before starting with 'I don't want your damn coffee' with 'I don't want your company' falling somewhere in the middle of the string of expletives, and ending with a 'get the hell out of my city'.

As I finished slicing and dicing…no make that literally destroying the only heart that I have ever truly cared about, she threw the hot coffee in my face, rage and hurt flashing like twin bolts of blue lightning in her eyes as she fought back tears…tears that I alone had caused before silently flying away.

There's that pesky word again…alone.

It doesn't have to be this way, though. All it would take is reaching out to the most amazing, most beautiful woman I've ever had the chance to meet, allowing her into my life and into my heart.

It sounds so damn easy and yet it's the hardest thing in the world for me to do especially after acting like a complete ass and hurting the one person that I love most in this world.

That was three weeks ago and she has yet to even look at me or meet my gaze, has yet to return to Gotham. There were several times over the last few weeks that I had almost picked up the phone or thought about contacting her to apologize.

I had even gone so far as to go to her quarters on the Watchtower to talk to her only to find that she had just left for a few days for an off world mission. I was actually going to apologize…me, Bruce Wayne…Batman. I was going to open my heart to her, to hold her and never let her go, but once again I lost my opportunity and the nerve, letting it slip through my gauntleted fingers.

I suddenly decide to leave my favorite perch in the safe confines of the shadows to go to a certain alley that I have visited more times than I can possibly remember. I know the way without even having to think about it, my body moving of its own accord as my thoughts and emotions roil inside of me.

Has she finally moved on? Let me go like I nearly demanded that she do?

I have no one to blame but myself for losing the one thing that has brought eternal radiance and warmth to my gloomy miserable excuse for a life. No one but me. I crushed something beautiful before it was even truly mine.

My jaw clenches, my teeth grind at the thought of some other man touching her, kissing her, of her giving herself, her virginity to him. It was supposed to be mine…she was supposed to be mine and I had destroyed it just like I destroy everything good that comes into my life.

I land lightly on the balls of my feet, crouching low to the ground as my eyes dart about me to scan my surroundings. This alley is sacred ground to me, belonging to no one else but me. This is the place my life ended and a new one had been born.

It is the single most tragic experience of my entire life and yet I can't help musing over the irony that if it hadn't happened, if I hadn't lost my parents that night that I might never have met the Amazon Princess from Themyscira.

Our lives would likely have never crossed, the Batman never existing. I would have likely found myself a nice socialite's daughter to marry and raise my average two-point-five children with her, running the company business by day and being nothing but a loving husband and doting father by night instead of a sick freak parading in a bat costume.

Our paths might have crossed at a benefit or a charity gala that she would be making an appearance at, lending her fame to raise money and awareness. I no doubt would have noticed her. How could any male or female for that matter who drew air not notice her?

She would flash that mega-watt smile, dazzling everyone in the entire room, awakening the desire of every man and the jealous ire of every woman. I would no doubt approach her to introduce myself to her, but the playboy bed-hopping bastard persona I'd created because of the Batman would never have existed.

It would just be him…Bruce Wayne. The real Bruce that still lived somewhere beneath all the ugliness and lies, underneath all of the tangled webs of deceit that I had created to shield my nightly endeavors or the defense mechanisms that I'd constructed to keep those around me safe as well as to guard my heart.

Somehow, Diana always managed to find that man, the real Bruce, forcing him to come to the surface to bask in her radiance and acceptance. I find that I miss it, miss the way that she always makes me feel when she's near. She makes me want to be a better person, a better man all for her.

Standing in the dark shadows of the alley, my eyes fall on the ground and the blood stains that neither time nor rain could ever truly erase, the memories of that fateful night rising like a turbulent storm that threatens to drag me under and drown me in its crushing grasp.

I am not only renewed in my pledge to my fallen parents as I stand here now, but I'm also reminded that they would've wanted so much more than this for me. Alfred's chiding words after he had found out about my confrontation with the Princess the other week suddenly fills my ears, sternly reprimanding me for once again pushing away the best thing that had ever come into my life.

I had tried to ignore the sadness that had filled his eyes, the bewilderment in his expression, but it had been next to impossible not to notice his slumped shoulders, his lowered head as if he had just failed me…my parents.

Alone.

Was this what I have reduced myself to? Skulking about the sinister streets of Gotham with nothing to look forward to, no one to come home to? I know I'm going to have to hang up the cape and cowl someday and then what will I have?

Nothing. Just myself…alone.

My fingers suddenly curl, my fists clenched as my decision abruptly solidifies. I've come to terms with what I've been fighting so desperately in my heart for far too long and I know I cannot fight it any longer.

I can't fight her anymore, fight what my heart and my body has wanted for far too long. I don't want to be that bitter old man all alone with no one to love that I saw in the future.

Now, I do want to be alone…alone with her and only her.

Without a second thought I turn and leave the alley that stole my childhood, my happiness, my soul and I leave behind the future that had been in store for me had I stayed on that path. A lonely existence that I chose now to abandon. I want more…demand more.

I need her now, need her more than the air I breathe and the blood that pumps through my veins and I am going to get her no matter what it takes or what I have to do because she is more than worth it to me.

XXX

I silently land on the ledge outside of the apartment, the one that I had secretly paid for her. She thought that it had just been something that Queen Audrey owned and was letting her use when in fact I had bought the entire apartment building, securing the penthouse suite for her.

I had worked it out with Audrey, making sure that she kept it our little secret. She had looked at me with those knowing doe eyes at the time, a smile on her lips that secretly said that she knew there was more to it than just friendship, but I had readily dismissed it, unwilling to face the truth about it at the time.

Even though I refused to admit it at the time, I was madly in love with Diana even then, wanted to be the one to always take care of her every need and want even though she was a highly independent, immortal warrior goddess in need of no man.

I enter through the window she has left open much to my dismay, the sheer curtains softly fluttering in the breeze. I come to a stop, my body tense as I find her bed still made, my Princess nowhere in sight. I feel my heart sink, the thought that I had missed my chance with her nearly taking my legs out from under me.

I release a frustrated breath before turning and leaving. I tried and I failed. She has no idea how much I love her and now she'll never know. With a heart heavier than if it had been a rock sitting in my chest, I head towards the Batmobile and my home…alone.

XXX

The drive home is long, giving me far too much time to think, to wonder where she was and what she was doing at that moment. It only served to darken my mood and further arouse my jealousy that was growing hotter by the moment.

I pull into the Batcave in a petulant mood, weighing my options. Parking the Batmobile, I sit there in the car for several minutes just thinking, battling the emotional tempest raging inside of me and I decide that I am going to fight for her no matter what it takes because that is who I am and what I do.

Just then, I notice movement coming from the shadows, a form so perfect it steals my breath as recognition sinks in. I immediately get out of the car as she approaches, tentativeness in her steps. It's something I'm not used to seeing in her and I know she is still battling the hurt and anger that I had created within her.

I close the car door as she draws near to the car. She opens her mouth to speak and the sudden thrilling rush of desire is too much to bear, too difficult to contain. She is here and I am not about to let her go again.

"Bruce, I…" she begins as I tear my cowl off, closing the distance between us in three strides.

My mouth claims hers before she can say another word as my arms swiftly wraps around her, crushing her to me. I hold nothing back in that kiss, pouring everything I feel for her into that moment and silently pray that it is enough to win first her forgiveness and second her heart.

My hurt, my apology, my love and longing for her are all sewn together into that one kiss, knitted together by a desperate need and desire for more…for her.

After her initial shock disappears, her lips move against mine, returning my passion with the same intense hunger. Her fingers are in my hair, behind my neck and keeping me right where I am as if I would ever want to leave her or this moment, but her fear is understandable especially after what I've put her through.

Her one hand drops from my hair to my uniform, beginning to remove it with a speed and desperation that equals my own. The air is charged with the sexual tension that surrounds us, both wanting the same thing…each other.

I grab her wrist stilling her frantic movement and causing her to pull out of the heated kiss. She looks at me with sudden fear in her blue eyes, afraid that I'm going to stop this when in reality it is taking everything inside of me to keep from throwing her over my shoulder, hauling her upstairs and ravishing her senseless, but I want…no, I need her to know one thing before we do this, before this goes any further.

"I love you, Princess…"

The words slip so easily off my tongue, so sweet that it lifts an unseen burden from my shoulders and unlocks the painful chains that have bound my heart for so very long. I watch as her head tilts and her eyes soften, relief and love shining brightly back at me. She smiles softly, her hands cradling my face as she presses her forehead against mine and we share the same breath.

"I know," she simply says as she lightly brushes her lips against mine. "I love you too, Bruce."

Our lips connect again, softly…slowly and it's like a bolt of energy rips through me as the passion begins to ignite and take over again. The kiss that started out sweet and gentle is quickly becoming frantic, desperate and demanding.

As I begin to help her remove my uniform I can't believe I'm finally here, doing this with her. I'm more than thrilled that she has forgiven me and is allowing me another first chance.

And because I decided to take this chance, I'm no longer alone…I'm with her. I'm alone with my Princess.

**THE END**


End file.
